John Legend
Once Again
(Sony BMG)
After 2004's much-lauded Get Lifted, the pressure was on John Legend to create another great album. Whether Once Again reaches such heights, only time will tell. What's certain is that he's opening ears to R&B that's contemporary yet old and streetwise but soulful.
It's about time. Legend's second album stands out from the crowd of modern R&B that drowns in sugary undertones or smarms itself sick. And it evokes sounds and feelings not heard or experienced since the likes of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
All of which means it should live up to Get Lifted - in sales at any rate - by pulling in audiences of different generations: those old enough to remember what a fluegelhorn sounds like (it appears on Maxine's Interlude) and hip hop fans who just want a break from incessant vocal posturing.
